Great book: The Girl on the Train

I enjoyed that book a lot and also really liked These Things Hidden and even more the House We Grew Up In.

I enjoyed it because it was an easy read. I also had no problem guessing "who" the bad person was.

I lent it to my Mom last week and she thought it was horrible. She's 81 years old, so that may be why. I think she wants happy endings in all the books she reads

I didn't understand why so many people raved about this book. I thought it was okay, not great.

I started the thread about Barclay. Go glad you are enjoying his books.

ETA: Regarding The Girl on the Train, I liked it but didn't love it.

i enjoyed it. it's a page turner. not fabulous literature but a compelling story

I really enjoyed it as well.
I've read lots of comments that the main female characters were all unlikable, but I didn't find that at all, I thought they were damaged and weak, but not necessarily unlikable & I thought the author did a good job of filling in their backgrounds so we could understand the reasons they became the way they were. I could totally understand how Rachel got to be how she was at the start of the book.

I also think the book suffers from the constant comparisons to Gone Girl and the idea that there is some sort of 'twist'. To me the concept of a 'twist' in the story is something completely unexpected (like 'I see dead people') but this is basically just a mystery (woman disappears), there are several potential scenarios and then we find out what happened. I didn't call that a 'twist' to my mind that's a pretty standard mystery novel.

I really liked The Girl on the Train. I also loved The Silent Wife. I thought both were excellent. I have liked nearly all of these type of suspense books that have come out in the past couple of years. 

Lisa 

ITA. I was really rooting for Rachel. She made me angry at times and I wanted to shake her, but mostly her vulnerability and sadness broke my heart. I really wanted her to pull it together.



I had several ideas regarding the resolution of the mystery. Some may have guessed it correctly (the correct ending was certainly ONE of my ideas), but really the author could have taken it into another direction and they could be wrong. I liked it a lot



And yes, I also enjoyed Gone Girl and The Silent Wife. I'll definitely take a look at some of the other recommendations. I've seen positive reviews here for other Heather Gudenkauf. I read one--Little Mercies--and was kind of disappointed. It wasn't terrible, it just lacked something in the writing and character development. I may give her another chance though because two of her books (one mentioned on this thread and one I've seen mentioned in other threads--The Weight of Silence) look intriguing. The other book mentioned, The House We Grew Up In looks very good and has a lot of good reviews, so I'll definitely add that to my list.

I made it about a third of the way in and just couldn't continue.

I also liked "Before I Go To Sleep" - Watson. And "Everything I Never Told You".

I hated it.

I did enjoy The Book of You by Claire Kendal.

I loved the The Bird Box.  I haven't had a books thrill me like that in a long time.

I read it for book club and really enjoyed it. I felt there where a couple of plot holes, but overall a good read.